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Ema Ryan
Name: Ema Ryan Gender: Female Age: 17 Grade: 12th School: Bayview Secondary School Hobbies and Interests: Physics, Aviation, Video Games, Writing, Sci-Fi, Zombies. Appearance: With two short parents, and four short grandparents, Ema was never expecting to be even 'average', let alone tall. At exactly five feet tall – her habit of slouching doesn't help either - and weighing an ever-so-slightly underweight 83lbs, the leprechaun jokes she occasionally hears are hardly unwarranted. And height isn't the only department she's small in – to put it politely, Ema similarly lacks any visible feminine curves, much to her chagrin. Build and flatness aside, she possesses an eminently stereotypical Irish complexion; pale skin, a heavily freckled area between her cheekbones, and vibrant ginger hair, which she mostly neglects, leaving it at about shoulder-length, uneven and messy. Her eyes are a pale sea green, and her face could best be described as 'cute', with fairly large eyes, high cheekbones and a small, slightly upturned nose. Her ears are comparably small as well, not that they're ever visible under the mess of hair covering them. Her usual attire tends to be an unimaginative, all-black affair, generally jeans, trainers, a jacket in which's myriad pockets she keeps most of her stuff, and all manner of unusual t-shirts as the only real variable. Coupled with her figure, it's unsurprising that Ema's often mistaken for a short, effeminate boy. Biography: A dreamer in every sense of the word, Ema's lived her entire life dreaming of being, doing or becoming something or other. For the most part of her adolescence, Ema was decidedly average; natural academic talent just about counteracted inherent laziness to keep her grades at satisfactory levels, but never anything special, save for the sciences – her passion had always been physics, and in all three of the sciences she excelled. At the time, her greatest dream was to fly in the Air Corps, aviation being one of the major reasons for her interest in physics in general. In her spare time, Ema rarely did much worth mentioning, no outlandish or exciting hobbies of which to speak - save for her occasional attempt at fiction writing - and an almost nonexistant social life. For the most part, Ema's adolescent days were passed in front of a computer screen, writing drafts of novels she knew she'd never get around to finishing, or playing games; pretty much everything from strategy to shooters, to RPGs and the occasional roleplay online. Other than that, usually after too many complaints at too much time "locked away with that bloody computer", Ema liked to read, in part for escapism, and in part for inspiration for her own projects. Unlike the broad range of games that appealed to her, her bookshelf was limited mostly to science fiction, steampunk, horror/mindscrew and the odd fantasy, with the only exception being her small collection of crime novels, all by Harlan Coben. Once upon a time, Ema delighted in spending time out in the sun with her family and friends, but a single sting from a wasp bloomed into a full-grown phobia of "anything that buzzes", and time spent avoiding the menaces gave rise to a distaste for the bright sunlight she used to love. Not only that, from a few days before then and ever since, anyone paying enough attention might well notice an odd string of bad luck, nothing major, just minor misfortunes that always seemed to target Ema, but could easily be written off as clumsiness, lack of spacial awareness, or plain inattentiveness. Originally from Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, her seventeenth birthday 'present' was the so-called adventure of moving to the States – obviously, it wasn't a spur of the moment thing, her father had been offered an enviable promotion.. the only catch being that it was in Minnesota, quite the commute without moving over there permanently. She didn't much mind, as a matter of fact, her life at home left a lot to be desired - as an only child, Ema was often the object of playful envy from sibling peers, who seemed to think she was lavished with the kinds of things brothers and sisters had to share; attention, gifts, and so forth. It was true, for her younger years, where she wanted for nothing and had the undivided attention of a loving mother, Erin, that stayed at home almost 24/7, and her father Alastair made an admirable effort to free himself from work - in those days, he had the unspectacular job of administrating a small courier company, which he'd riden a motorcycle for as a younger, single man - as early as possible to be with her. But, heartless as it may sound, the novelty wore off around the same time as Ema turned thirteen... or at least, that's how she herself saw it, the reality was far less depressing - both of her parents were hit hard by the early stages of the recession in Britain and Ireland, forcing her father to take a better paying job in big business with longer hours and a longer commute (Dublin, no less), and her mother to take a full time job at a local school herself. No, not out of material greed, but to provide for a daughter they still loved dearly, a daughter whose adolescent mind saw the opposite, and decided to follow suit and distance herself from them. Evenings were no longer 'family time', Ema preferred to pursue more solitary entertainments, in that time finding her fascination with science and engineering, mostly thanks to whiling away hours on end browsing whatever interested her on Wikipedia, or re-reading those science fiction books she'd lost interest in before. Her new, self-inflicted status as a pariah within her own family soon began to have a knock-on effect on her social life, and without even meaning to, Ema managed to alienate old friends and new acquaintances alike, soon losing all but the closest, mostly those with the empathy to decipher her odd mindset, but without the gall to point out how wrong it was. So, without any choice in the matter anyway, Ema made a surprisingly easy move from her school to Bayview Secondary; she had few friends left to leave behind, and little that she cared about enough to miss from her home town. Blissfully unaware of the next surprise move she'd soon be making, she continued on as always, and as not only something of a layabout and a geek, but an outsider too, she didn't exactly fit in too well. By and large, though, Ema got along fine, by her own definition. Just as much as she didn't manage to cultivate a friendship any more familiar than an acquaintance, she had nothing close to an enemy either. But not being the type to crave popularity, she never much cared; after all, it's easier to lose oneself in thought when you're alone. Advantages: Despite being the loner type, Ema's quirky and inoffensive personality makes her quite likeable and trustworthy to most.. but her tendancy to distance herself from others emotionally - the reason she ends up alienating most - means that, as much as she'd be tortured by her own morality later on, Ema would have less trouble killing to save her own life than most. Her borderline-obsession with science and engineering might just come in handy too, particularly if it involves her passion; aeroplanes. Disadvantages: Cute as it may be in a social situation, depending on who's describing her, Ema's short stature and weedy build makes her close to useless in a straight fight. Similarly, her tendency to get her head 'stuck in the clouds' could well mean she never gets the chance to even have a fistfight. And on top of all of that, Ema's decidedly meek, so regardless of whether she's able to fight and kill in self-defence, the odds of her actively seeking a fight are low at best. A morbid fear of flying insects and dislike of direct sunlight isn't exactly an advantage, either, and her inability to hold a friendship together could well prove a disaster to any alliance later in the game, assuming she lasts that long. Designated Number: Female student no. 045 ---- Designated Weapon: '''A Timeturner replica (from Harry Potter) '''Conclusion: If only you could turn back time, G045, perhaps you could make some friends who would actually support you here. As it is, I see you getting killed by someone pretty quickly. Good luck keeping allies; it's hard enough for the people who are actually likable. The above biography is as written by Chib. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made. Evaluations Kills: None Killed By: N/A Collected Weapons: None Allies: None Enemies: None Mid-game Evaluation: Post-Game Evaluation: Memorable Quotes: Other/Trivia Threads The Past: A Foregone Conclusion Pregame: Strike 3! Closing Time V4: Your Thoughts Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Ema Ryan. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!